Roman Patronage

Roman society was set up asa system of patron and clients.

In this system, a patronusgave help and protection toothers less powerful/rich.

In return, these clientesperformed various servicesfor him in return.

Duties of a patron:• provide for his clients financially• defend his clients legally• represent their political interests• invite his clients to dinner

Duties of a client• support his patron politically• serve militarily under hispatron• accompany his patron whenwalking in town

In many instances, patronswould take on artists andwriters as clients.

The patron would financially support the artistic pursuits of his client, while the patron would gain celebrity fame by association.

Though a patron would have many clients, a client was only allowed to have one patron.

A patron/client relationshipwas a legal contract, whichextended to his entire family.

If a patron died, his heir wasbound to support his father’sclients.

If a client died, a patron waslegally bound to take on theclient’s heir as a new client.

With the fall of the Republic and dissolution of popular elections, the patron/client system declined.

Patrons no longer had any usefor clients politically.

When Augustus becameEmperor, he declared himself the patron of all of Roman citizens.

Patrons soon began to look tobecome clients of the Empire in order to gain favors from the Emperor.

Benefits of patron/clientSystem:• created stability in Rome• families remained loyalto their patrons for centuries• kept the social order of Rome intact

Downfalls• kept families “locked in” toa system from which they could not escape• created a welfare systemin a state which did not havethe means to support thepoor

FINIS